VOL. 16 ISSUE NO. 51 | DECEMBER 22 – 28, 2010

BY LINDA BENTLEY | DECEMBER 22, 2010

Sunset Trail resident thwarts burglary attempt and warns others

CAVE CREEK – Last week, a resident on Sunset Trail called to say a man knocked on her door who declined to identify himself and, without a peephole, she wasn’t about to open her door.

She said the man was very soft spoken and when she asked who he was looking for, he said, “Anderson.”

When she told him there was no one there by that name, she looked out her window and saw a Hispanic man, wearing a bright red jacket and hat, holding a clipboard, walking away and then getting into the passenger side of a black sedan.

What she learned after they left was someone placed a piece of flagstone up against her garage door so that it fell when she opened the garage door.

She, like most people, generally would have driven off when she confirmed her garage door was closing. However, had she not noticed, the stone, which fell across the threshold, would have bounced the door back open when struck by the door.

And, she said she never locked the door entering the house from the garage, which would have provided burglars unbridled access to her home and belongings.

It’s also a habit she’s changed since this incident.

The burglars would have only needed to do a simple drive-by to see if the garage door was open as an indication their scheme worked and no one was home.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she contacted both the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Town Marshal Adam Stein to alert them to this M.O.

Stein wanted to also remind citizens that anyone soliciting door to door in Cave Creek is required to obtain a peddler’s license from town hall.

He indicated there were a couple of people that have obtained such licenses.